Three: A New Beginning
by AlyssC01
Summary: Following the final days of Project Lazarus, Miranda makes a terrible discovery and has to deal with her own fears and insecurities while Dr. Chakwas has to come to terms with the magnitude of their success. Liara/Fem!Shep mention.
1. Chapter 1

_TITLE: Three__: A New Beginning. _

_CATEGORY: Drama_

_PAIRINGS: FemShep/Liara_

_SPOILERS: Start of Mass Effect 2, Shepard history. _

_RATING: T_

_WARNINGS: __Nudity, strong language possibly. Alien/human relationship. _

_FEEDBACK: ;) Naturally – that's why we're here aren't we? _

_DISCLAIMER: Mass Effect is the property of BioWare and EA Games. I do not make any money out of this, though rewards through reviews would be appreciated. I do not intend any harm by writing these fics. _

_AN and SUMMARY: I'm__ still__ playing Mass Effect 2__. My personal writing has come to a grinding halt as the only thing I can dish out is ME fan fic (when I'm not replaying the game). Is there anything that can help with this brain itch?  
This story continues along my previous 'Three' line. Again, it will be three chapters of varying length. Reviews are appreciated, constructive feedback even more. Thank you for reading.  
Also – a nod in drwells123's direction. If you are a Miranda/Fem!Shep fan, do yourself a favour and read her (his?) Recovery. I was really impressed with that. _

**Chapter 1**

_Liara. _

It was a name and it had meaning. It hung in her consciousness, the eco in a void. The tether to reality. _Where was Liara?_ She had to find Liara.

Riana Shepard clawed her way to consciousness, fighting against the unknown darkness that held her. She tried to take a breath, but couldn't. _No air,_ she thought. _Liara... I can't breathe. Please... God..._

Air was forced into her lungs, painfully, precisely. She opened her eyes, and tried to scream but the air was sucked out again, and she was suffocating once more.

_Liara,_ Shepard thought as she felt hot tears trail down her cheeks, burning them like knives slicing through her skin. _Liara, I'm sorry... Liara..._

888

The warning beeps of the monitors were screaming overhead as Miranda stormed into the room, fumbling to tie her hair back and out of her face. She had only been sleeping for what felt like a few minutes, her first break of the day – when her omni-tool flared to life, warning her that she needed to be back in the lab.

"Wilson what the hell is going on?"

Her assistant seemed to be panicking as he scrambled from Shepard's body to the monitors. "My god Miranda," he exclaimed. "She's waking up! She's conscious!"

The words shocked her into a second's immobility. "That can't be right," she snapped. "She's not ready yet." She turned to the bed and realized with a shock that Shepard's eyes were open, tears streaming down her cheeks as she fought to breathe against the ventilator. Her naked body convulsed and she made a soft, primal sound in the back of her throat.

The sound spurred Miranda to action as she rushed to the bed's side, quickly putting her hand on the woman's shoulder to keep her down, for once not caring if she had gloves on or not. "Stay calm Shepard," she said quickly, meeting the woman's brilliant green eyes as she stared at her with a look of absolute terror. The last time she had seen those eyes, she had been carefully reconstructing them in her lab, growing them and sculpting them to the synthetic mould they used as a base. They had transferred them to Shepard's body almost two months ago and so far – the test results had come back positive, hinting that the woman would be able to see through them.

But, to have them stare at her with so much emotion...

Miranda would never have dreamed that it would be possible.

"Her heart rate is still climbing," Wilson was saying, dragging her back to reality and the severity of their situation. "Miranda, she's going to have a stroke at this rate!"

She straightened up sharply and went to her own monitoring station, quickly scanning through the recent medication that they had given Shepard. She saw the mistake immediately, but had the sense to remain calm for all the fury that suddenly raged inside her.

_He made a mistake._

"Give her the sedative Wilson," she snapped and returned to the bed, where Shepard's eyes found her immediately. To her private delight, the woman reached out to her, her hand shaking – but moving... _Success!_

"Easy there Shepard," she said, kinder this time as she took Riana's hand and squeezed it slightly. "Just try to stay calm and try not to breathe; the machine will do it for you. Just relax, everything's going to be alright."

The human Spectre closed her eyes in a grimace of pain as more tears trailed down her cheeks. There was a hiss as a sedative was injected into the IV line and Shepard flinched when it entered her system. Miranda carefully put her hand on the woman's head, running her hand through her inch long red hair until she thought that she was asleep. She was about to pull away when Riana opened her eyes again, her features calmer as she allowed the ventilator to push air into her lungs unhindered. She reached up to Miranda again, making a vague motion with her hand. She wanted to write something.

_Reasoning, moving, seeing... Even crying._ It took a lot of self control for Miranda not to smile like the Cheshire cat as she took Shepard's hand and put it on her palm.

"Trace on my hand," she said. "I'll follow, Wilson – give her another dose, she's not going under fast enough."

The Spectre blinked in the harsh lab lights and slowly, carefully, traced her finger over Miranda's palm.

_L_

There was a hiss as another dose of sedative entered her system. Shepard closed her eyes, her grotesque face, still raw and unhealed for most part.

_I_

Miranda knew what she meant immediately. "Liara," she whispered. "Do you want to know about Liara?"

Riana opened her eyes groggily, clearly fighting the sedative now as she blinked purposefully. Surprised, Miranda nodded slowly and put her hand on Shepard's forehead again. "She's fine," she said softly. "Don't worry. Go to sleep Shepard, things will be clearer next time." She wasn't sure if Riana heard the last, her hand relaxing in Miranda's as she finally surrendered to the sedative.

Feeling as if she was able to breathe for the first time since this happened, Miranda let out a slow breath – then rounded on Wilson. The man was looking at her, his face unreadable as he stared from her to Shepard. Miranda had to struggle with her self-control as she purposefully walked to him and grabbed him by the front of his shirt.

"What the hell happened here Wilson?" she snapped. "Why did you adjust her medication?"

888

She had a headache, no – she had a migraine.

Miranda sat in her office overlooking the lab, watching as two of her _most trusted_ people carefully disinfected the open wounds on Shepard's body, taking away dead skin and tissue that either stopped growing, or didn't start to begin with. She should've been there with them, but in her current state, she could hardly stand up right.

She had read Wilson the riot act and then she had stopped his access to Shepard's medication, resolving to never leave him alone with the woman again. Whether it was negligence or intentional – he had almost destroyed two years of her life. Two painstaking years that she had spend reconstructing a corpse.

Doing the impossible.

_And succeeding,_ Miranda thought as she swallowed nauseously. _Shepard had moved, communicated, reasoned... She was alive! After all these months of theorising and guessing, she had proof that her project might well be a success. _

If she had felt better, she would've taken more pride in it, but as it were – all she could think of was her migraine. She was about to head down to the infirmary and find something to help her when her door opened and a white coated figure stormed in. There was only _one_ person on this infernal base who dared interrupt her without announcing herself. Without looking up, Miranda closed her eyes and tried to gather her senses so that she could face the force that was Elizabeth Chakwas.

"Doctor," she said and tried to pile together some semblance of her dignity. "What can I..."

"What the hell happened today Miranda? I looked at the data and it was chaos!"

The older woman's face was a picture of fury as she threw a data pad on Miranda's desk. The woman didn't have to look at it to know what it was about so she merely pushed it aside and sat up, entwining her fingers as she faced the ex-Alliance doctor. By Miranda's guess, she was the woman who had known Riana the longest, having been part of the team that responded to the emergency call on Mindoir. Her participation in Project Lazarus, though it had been as a silent partner in the beginning, had been invaluable. She had given up her position on the Mars Station two months ago to join Cerberus permanently.

_Or, not us,_ Miranda thought. _Shepard._

There was no use denying what had happened. "Shepard woke up," she said. "Wilson had been fiddling with her medication balance for the past couple of days. I gave him parameters in which he should stay but he gave her the wrong cocktail."

Dr. Chakwas seemed to steel herself as she slipped her hands into the pockets of the white lab coat she was wearing. She had been sleeping when Shepard woke up and as was her habit, had probably gone to the lab even before she had had a proper breakfast.

"What's the report?" she asked simply. She rarely referred to Shepard by name, as if it offered her some protection against the anticipated disappointment when the project failed.

_We won't fail!_

Miranda wasn't sure how to answer the question, but her head hurt too much for her to try and mince words. "She was aware," she said. "She tried to fight the ventilator –I think she's ready to breathe on her own." She swallowed down a wave of migraine induced nausea. "She asked for Liara."

Dr. Chakwas paled visibly as her hand travelled to her mouth in shock. "How?" she asked. "She wouldn't be able to talk..."

Miranda shrugged with one shoulder and put her head on her hand again. "I let her draw on my hand," she said. "Ni... A childhood friend and I used to do that when we couldn't speak. Write to each other on our hands." Thinking of her childhood friend suddenly made her throat constrict and she had to take several deep breaths to stop herself from crying. _Damn this bloody headache!_

Dr. Chakwas made to comment, then paused and studied Miranda critically.

"Miranda, are you alright?"

The younger woman chuckled bitterly, thinking that so few people ever asked her that. "I have a headache," she managed. "But... It's nothing. It's that time of the month and..." She trailed off and swallowed. "It's nothing."

Dr. Chakwas approached the table with a cautious expression, coming over to Miranda's side without asking for permission. "It doesn't look like nothing," she said softly. "Here, let me have a look at you." She made to touch the woman, but Miranda jerked away.

"I'm fine," she said with steel in her voice but the doctor was having none of it.

"Don't be silly, you're as white as a sheet." She knelt beside her and rested a hand on her wrist to check her pulse. Miranda closed her eyes and turned away from the woman, but didn't pull away from her. She heard the faint click as Dr. Chakwas activated her omni-tool and waved it over her, checking her basic stats.

"I think we should give you something for this," the doctor said softly. "Come with me Miranda."

Too tired to fight, Miranda nodded numbly and allowed the doctor to pull her up. When she was on her feet, her world swayed and she just managed to turn away from her desk before she threw up. Dr. Chakwas immediately stepped to one side, but kept a hand under her arm to support her and used her other to keep Miranda's hair out of the way.

"This is not a headache Miranda," she said, her tone almost stern. "This is a migraine."

Miranda almost sobbed as she sank down to her chair again. "I know," she said simply. "I... I can't go out there. Not like this."

In her favour, Dr. Chakwas didn't protest, didn't even ask her what she meant. She knew. She knew that Miranda was too proud, too collected to show herself in such a weakened state to anybody on the base. She rubbed the woman's back before she moved to the door. "I'm going to get you something that will hopefully help you to walk to my office in a straight line, don't go anywhere."

Swallowing against another wave of nausea, Miranda closed her eyes to the mess on the floor and turned so that she could rest her head on her desk. "I have to keep an eye on Shepard," she said softly. "I can't just leave her."

The doctor paused by the door and turned back to look at the woman.

"I think that she'll be fine on her own for an hour or two," she dropped her voice softly. "I doubt anybody would try anything stupid for the next day or two. I'm going to get you something for the pain and then you are coming to my office. Your boss didn't spend a fortune furnishing it out for nothing. No arguments Ms. Lawson, I don't take no for an answer easily."

888

"Well," Dr. Chakwas said later as Miranda lay on the bed in front of her, her eyes closed to the bright light of the overhead lights. "I think I can safely say that it's not a brain tumour."

Miranda snorted and reached up to carefully pull the wet cloth Dr. Chakwas had placed on her forehead over her eyes. As archaic as the practice was, it _worked_. She was starting to feel better, but then – it might also be the two injections the woman had given her. She couldn't even remember what it had been, even though she distinctly remember Dr. Chakwas saying something about it.

"Skippy do," she muttered. "Can I go now? I have work to do Dr. Chakwas. I feel much better."

The older woman snorted and put a firm hand on her chest, motioning to her to stay still as she continued scanning her body with the med bay's instrument. "There is only one place you are going from here Miranda," she said. "And that is straight to bed. When was the last time you had any sleep? _Proper_ sleep?"

The truth was, she couldn't remember, but she wasn't going to share that with the doctor. Now that she felt a little better she didn't feel like just submitting to her every wish. "I don't need a lot of sleep," she said defensively.

Again, Dr. Chakwas snorted, the sound clearly telling of her disbelief. "You need just as much as the rest of us," she said. "Miranda, your body is exhausted. This migraine is its way of telling you that you need to slow down a little. You've been pushing yourself much harder than you've been pushing everybody else. You're not a robot, it's time to rest. You have been under a lot of stress and I think – seeing... the results that you had today released some of that."

Miranda lifted up the cloth and peered at the doctor, even though she still had her back turned towards her. She was scanning the area over her abdomen, though for the life of her, Miranda couldn't understand why.

"So what?" she queried. "I gave myself a migraine from relief?"

"It's not the strangest thing that can happen," Dr. Chakwas said. "Miranda, when last did you see Dr. Grenway?"

She blinked and tried to think. The last time she saw her gynaecologist was... well... _before_ she met Dr. Chakwas. She had never bothered going back for another appointment; things had been so hectic...

"Why?" she queried, her heart cold. "Is something wrong?"

The doctor didn't answer immediately, but spend a considerable time studying her monitor. "I'm not in a position to say Miranda," she said finally. "Honestly? I'm better at evaluating blood and gore than the finer details of the female reproductive system." She was frowning as she turned to look at Miranda. "But, it might be a good thing to have everything checked out. Before we enter the final phase of Project Lazarus."

Miranda blinked at her, the headache starting to throb behind her eyes again. "I can't leave now," she said. "Wilson..."

"I'll keep an eye on him, he won't fiddle with _anything_ while I've got my eye on him." The doctor said softly. "Miranda, I think you should go see Dr. Grenway. Just..." She hesitated. "Just make sure that _you_ are alright. You are invaluable to this, more so than any of us."

She had to close her eyes to gather herself, pushing away the cold fear that washed over her like a wave of darkness. "Everybody can be replaced Dr. Chakwas," she said softly, trying to keep the tremor from her voice. "I can be re-engineered. Shepard can be rebuilt. None of us are irreplaceable. Even with ourselves."

The woman didn't comment, but sat down on the bed beside Miranda and just looked at her, carefully slipping her hand into the woman's.

"I'll make an appointment," she said. "Now, I'm going to give you a light sedative Miranda – I don't think you'll sleep if I just send you to bed. I think it's the best course of treatment for your headache. You can stay here till you wake up, I'll go down and check on Shepard."

She should've protested as the older woman went to her drug cabinet and fixed a syringe but the cold pit in her stomach stayed her tongue. It had nothing to do with the nausea of the migraine. It was a tumble of self doubt and the realization that something might be wrong with _her_. It was what had driven her to Dr. Grenway in the beginning, but when Dr. Chakwas interrupted that meeting, she had unknowingly broken Miranda's bravado and she didn't have the _guts_ to go back.

The doctor returned and silently, without asking permission, spread out Miranda's arm and carefully swabbed the inside of her elbow with some medi-gel. Then, she deftly slipped in the thin needle and injected her with the sedative. It burned and Miranda had to take a steadying breath to quell her fear. She felt vulnerable suddenly, frightened, but the doctor made a soothing sound and sat down beside her again, taking her hand in hers.

Just like she had done for Shepard.

_To Be Continued..._


	2. Chapter 2

_AN: This is a short chapter. Obviously, lol. I was starting to write myself into a corner, so I decided to send off this bit – and fix the rest in the next part. :) The letter is taken directly from the Shadow Brokers files (thank you ). There are some people who are reading this who has not played the DLC yet (and one or two who hasn't actually played the game) so I decided to include it in its totality.  
Oh – also – there is a vote on ME2's facebook fan page about what colour FemShep's hair should be. If you haven't, please go and vote. I'd tell you to vote for the red head, but that would be influencing your vote. But, show support to GingerShep. She was our default from the beginning and I would like to give her the honour to be on the collector's edition. :)_

888

_Damn you,_ Miranda thought as she pushed her hands against her face. _Stop crying damn it, what the hell is wrong with you?_ The problem was that she had always been very head strong and rarely listened to anybody, including herself. In front of her, on her extranet terminal, was a letter. It appeared to be so inconspicuous, so innocent, that its words hurt her all the more.

It read:

_From: Illium Medical Center, Prenatal Care Department  
RE: TEST RESULTS, PATIENT 12-66AD-1  
Miss Lawson,_

_As per your request for privacy, this message will be removed from our database upon confirmation of send integrity.  
While we cannot firmly attribute the cause of the benign neoplasm to the irregularity in your genetic makeup, we can confirm that the progressive damage renders you unable to conceive a child.  
About 12 percent of human women ages 18-54 have difficulty getting pregnant or staying pregnant according to data obtained from the Institute of Species Reseach (ISR). There are many support groups if you wish to discuss your condition and several options available should you wish to consider the adoption of a child.  
If you require further consultation, please contact our communication officer._

_Sincerely,  
Dr. Banner Grenway  
Department Medical Director  
Illium Medical Center_

She closed the message and turned away from the screen, getting up so that she could move to the corner of her office and stand there with her back towards her desk. It had been a week since she returned from Illium after her appointment with Dr. Grenway. Although she would've preferred to get this information in one of her private apartments off the base, she had to come back early as the Illusive Man had ordered that Dr. Chakwas be moved to the Normandy project. They were so close to the end of Project Lazarus that her expertise was required elsewhere. As Miranda didn't trust Wilson alone with Shepard anymore, she had to come back.

Only to hear this.

A part of her wasn't surprised. She had feared that something might be wrong, she had seen the signs long before. But, she had been so focused on this project, so determined to see it through every step of the way that in many ways she had neglected herself. She wasn't important, Shepard was.

It's not as if she wanted children anyway.

She sniffed and turned back to her desk, only to find Dr. Elizabeth Chakwas standing in her office, looking at her in surprise. Miranda cursed and turned away from her, waving the doctor away.

"For God's sake," she snapped. "Don't you ever bloody knock?"

Dr. Chakwas hesitated, then took a step forward towards her. "You know I don't," she said and lowered her voice. "Dr. Grenway cc'd me in his message to you. I'm sorry Miranda, I just got it."

"Fuck you!" Miranda snapped aghast, feeling as if her last defence was stripped away from her. "How dare you do that? You had no right! I told him not to share the information!"

Chakwas seemed immune to her anger, though she didn't come closer, choosing to slowly sit down on Miranda's desk where she could watch her. "I was the physician that referred you," she said softly. "I asked for him to keep me in the loop. And, I'm glad he did. I'm sorry Miranda."

She was breathing heavily, gulping for air as she tried to get her emotions under control. "Fuck you," she said again. "This is private, this is a private matter!" When the doctor made to come to her, she held up her hand in defence. "Don't touch me damn you, don't come near me. This is private. This was mine."

Dr. Chakwas looked at her for a long time, before she nodded slowly. "It might feel that way Miranda," she said softly. "But you're not alone. I wouldn't have told you that I knew under different circumstances, but I leave for your other base this afternoon. I think that it is important that you know that you will still have support – even if I am far away."

Miranda snorted and shook her head. "I don't need your _support_ Doctor," she said. "Shepard needed you but know that I could've done this without you as well. You are not my doctor, and you are _not_ my friend. I didn't need you to interfere with my life and you were certainly not privileged to that information!"

To her surprise, the doctor smiled, though the pity in her eyes almost killed Miranda. "Someone has to know," she said. "It might as well be me. You are not alone in this Miranda. I take care of the people who work with me."

Miranda wasn't done; her anger and emotions not yet spend. "I don't need you to take care of me," she said and motioned to her monitor. "That... that was just a message. A diagnosis. It's not as if I wanted kids anyway. Good riddance to me. My father did me a favour."

"You don't mean that," Dr. Chakwas said softly, with a touch of sadness in her voice. "We all want children. We might not admit it, but we do. You don't have to get over this immediately Miranda. Take your time to mourn this loss. Don't let anybody tell you that you've cried enough. This will affect the rest of your life; it's not something to be swept under the carpet."

When Miranda didn't respond Chakwas sighed and stood up, knowing that she would not get any more out of the woman. "I guess then this is my time to say good bye," she said softly. "If you need anything else Miranda, don't hesitate to ask – I'm just a call away and I'm sure your boss can bring me here in a second's notice."

Miranda didn't look at her, but continued to stare at her blank wall, not daring to touch her face to wipe away her tears. She was still angry, furious, but now – she wasn't sure whether she was angry at the doctor or at herself.

"I'll be fine," she said shortly. "Thank you for your work doctor."

Dr. Chakwas nodded and went to the door, where she hesitated. "When Shepard wakes up I want you to remember one thing Miranda," she said softly. "You two are a lot alike. She is determined, smart and very independent. She feels that if she can't fix it, then nobody can. And she puts all that she has into what she's doing. She'll never ask for help, even if she needs it. The important thing is to learn to let her deal with things on her own and when to give her assistance, whether she wants your help or not."

Miranda didn't nod but stared at Chakwas until the woman sighed and nodded at her. "I'll see you when our paths cross again Miranda," she said. "I'm sorry that I have to leave under these circumstances. Again, if you need anything – don't hesitate to call."

"I doubt that will be necessary," Miranda said smoothly and went back to her desk. "Good luck with your trip."

Chakwas left then, as she should've from the beginning, leaving Miranda to sit at her desk in solitude. She stayed there for a very long time, staring at her blank monitor, thinking about the injustice of her heritage, of her creation and finally – of the fact that she will never have children of her own.

Finally she sighed and put her gaming face on, calling up the cameras in Shepard's room. "Well, at least I still have you," she said bitterly. "And, I've put more work into you than in any child." She snorted to herself, thinking that carrying a foetus for nine months would seem like a breeze in comparison to the two years of reconstruction that she had had to endure.

_I wasn't meant to be a mother anyway,_ Miranda thought bitterly as she checked Shepard's stats. _If you've never had a mother – how could you possibly know how to be a good one?_

888

_She was going to lose her, she was going to lose Shepard._

Making her way to the infirmary, Miranda had to retreat when two Heavy Mecs cut her off. She turned around and run back in the direction from which she had come; because she knew that for all her power she couldn't take two of them on by herself. She had been in the gym when the attack started, running away her frustrations in the early hours of the morning. In the weeks since Chakwas left the base, her work load had doubled. She hardly trusted Wilson to check Shepard's pulse, let alone work with her so she had taken on almost all of the monitoring duties of Project Lazarus. If the man realized that he was under suspicion he didn't show it, rather commenting that she was turning into a megalomaniac, wanting all the glory of resurrecting Shepard for herself.

The only comment she had ever made about it was that the project had never been about resurrecting Shepard but saving humanity. Shepard was to be the tool for that goal.

Now, she was an open target for the hacked security system.

_Fuck!_ Miranda thought when she cut a corner and found a squad of 5 Loki's waiting for her with another Heavy Mec behind them. She had to give it to Cerberus, they were always prepared for a small war though, she doubted that they ever anticipated that their security would turn on _them_. She changed direction quickly, saw an open door and ran towards it. She _had_ to find a terminal where she could try and disable the security.

She reached the room just in time, leaping through the door and shutting it seconds before a rocket exploded against it. Her own momentum tripped her up, but she turned smoothly and leapt to her feet, her biotics flaring to life as she turned around to face the mecs if they had managed to blow the door down. Luckily, it seemed to hold even as she heard another rocket explode against it.

_Damn them,_ she thought. _Trapped._

_Shepard._

She turned around immediately, seeing that she was in one of the open plan offices that some of the other personnel used. She went to a terminal immediately and tried to link up with security but found herself blocked. The terminal also didn't have the security clearance that hers had and there was _no way_ that she could by pass it.

_Damn again,_ Miranda thought as she linked the terminal with her omni-tool, bringing up Shepard's stats. The woman's heart rate was still stable, she was alive – but there was no telling for how long. _They were so close!_ Miranda thought angrily as she once again tried to get at the security systems. _So close and now this…_

She stopped suddenly and stood back. _Close,_ she thought. _Close enough!_ Giddy with adrenaline, she used her omni-tool to call up the security cameras in Shepard's room. They had moved her to recovery a week ago, her tissue healed to a point where she didn't need to be in a sterile environment anymore. Her scarring was still elaborate – Miranda anticipated that it would take at least another month for them to heal completely, but – other than that, everything was fine.

In theory.

The first thing she did was withdrawing the Commander's sedation and administering a counter measure against the drug. Then, she pumped her full of as many stimulants as she could safely, knowing that it would either give the woman a heart attack or wake her up. There was no time to be cautious, no extra minutes that she could take to ensure that the Commander would be alright. She had to get up now or die.

Riana Shepard's heart rate spiked, immediately making an alarm resound from her omni-tool but she turned it to mute and went to the monitor again, this time hacking the base's communication's system. She managed to get through just as the Commander started stirring, her omni-tool highlighting the areas which Shepard was moving. Setting up the microphone that the previous office occupant used to communicate through the extranet, she started calling into it immediately, her eyes glued to Shepard's stats.

"Wake up Commander!" she snapped when she saw the woman's eyes begin to move. "Wake up Shepard! The base is under attack! Wake up!"

A loud explosion rocked the whole base, jerking Shepard awake. Miranda saw her gasp as she moved her arms to steady herself. She was naked, save for the grey blanket that covered her and there were several medication lines still attached to her body. She would have to remove that herself…

When she realized that the woman had not moved again, Miranda called out to her. "Shepard, you have to wake up! For Liara's sake, open your eyes and wake up! You'll die!"

That got to her. Miranda saw Shepard open her eyes with what must've been an immense effort. She blinked around her, saw the lines connected to her body and slowly, precisely, with hands that had not moved in almost two years, started pulling them out. She paused at some point and for a moment Miranda was afraid that she was going to lose consciousness again but before Miranda could say anything, she took a deep breath and sat up. She swayed as she did so, dropping her one leg of off the bed and pulling out the last of the lines. Then, without warning, she lost her balance and fell off of the bed.

"No!" Miranda cried out, immediately checking her omni tool to see that Shepard's blood pressure had dropped significantly. "Shepard! Get yourself up! Come on!" _Please, for the love of humanity, don't die again. Come on._

Another explosion rocked the base, followed immediately by a loud thud against her door. Miranda looked up briefly to see whether it was still holding before she turned her attention back to the monitors. She had a feeling that the Mecs were trying to get inside but luckily, Cerberus had build their bases to withstand nothing short of a nuclear attack.

Shepard was still for a few minutes, her breathing so quick that she was sure to hyperventilate. But, then she steadied her breathing and slowly pushed herself up.

"What…" she croaked and coughed as she sat up, instinctively pulling the grey blanket around her that had also fallen to the floor. "What the hell is going on?"

_Thy dead shall live; my dead bodies shall arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast forth the dead. Isaiah 26:19… _

"This base is under attack Shepard," Miranda said quickly as the disorientated woman looked around her, her movements still slow and sluggish. She raised a shaky hand to her face and touched it, winching immediately when she did so. "You're not healed yet, but we have to get you out of here. Can you walk?"

Shepard looked around, discovering that she was alone in the room. "Where are you?" she demanded, her gaze returning to the scars that covered the rest of her body. "What the hell happened to me? Who are you?"

There was another thud against the door in her room and this time, Miranda saw it give way a little. For the first time, she felt a moment's panic, wondering whether the three Heavy Mecs that she had encountered were now _all_ outside. _I can't die here and neither can she…_

"I don't have time to explain!" Miranda snapped. "There are Heavy Mecs literally banging at my door! Please Shepard! Get up and out of that room!" She saw Shepard close her eyes and rest her head against the bed's side, again looking as if she was going to lose consciousness. "Commander!"

"I'm up," the woman muttered and opened her eyes, reaching up with a shaky hand to pull her up against the bed's side. "Just tell me where I have to…" She flinched and settled back but before Miranda could snap at her again she shook her head and pulled herself up again, steadying herself against the bed. She let the blanket drop as she had to use both hands to keep herself upright but then, when she took a few breaths, she bend down gingerly and picked it up again, tightly wrapping it around her body like a towel. "I'm up," she said again. "Just tell me where I have to go…"

888

Miranda was… Impressed.

An hour ago, Shepard had still comatose and set to be so for at least another month. Now, she was making her way through the Cerberus base, blowing Heavy Mecs up with a grenade launcher. They had always planned for Shepard to go through a rehabilitation scheme, for her body and her mind's sake. Mastering a new body could not have been easy but she was managing. Shepard had found some clothes for herself and strapped an armoured vest to her chest. Her heart rate had been very high when she started but – as she made her way through the base she began to relax a little and her stats came down to some semblance of normality. That improved her focus and her shooting significantly and – although Miranda knew that she was still in pain, she hardly said a word of complaint. She focused on what was ahead of her – and that was to get to the cargo bay no matter what.

She didn't even hesitate when she had to dive through a stream of fire.

Miranda was about to direct her into the ventilation systems so that she could make the rest of the way unhindered when the door suddenly burst open and the Loki stormed into the room. Miranda cursed and dove for cover behind the desk, flaring up her biotics for defence. She tried to hail Shepard but the Loki's shots hit the monitor, destroying her connection. They were both on their own.

There was a loud mechanical thud as the Heavy Mec forced itself through the narrow open space of the broken door. Miranda leapt up, threw a shockwave of biotics at the two nearest Loki and bolted to another desk. There was an unmistakable click as the Heavy Mec loaded it's automatic rounds and seconds after she managed to dive in behind the next table, it let loose a burst of gunfire.

Taking a steadying breath, Miranda mentally counted off the seconds, regretting that she never carried a pistol on base. She never thought that Wilson would go this far.

_The bastard._ _All of them._

She made herself angry and it wasn't hard. She let the frustration of the past couple of months, the pain of her barrenness, the loneliness of her work and the injustice of her existence wash over her. When the Heavy Mec came round the table she was ready for it, leaping up with an animal like cry as she hurled all her power at him. Blue biotics exploded around her and the Mec was flung away from her, crumbling in the air as it did so. When it struck the wall, it exploded, sending her crashing to the back. The explosion took out the remaining Loki, leaving her alone in a now burning room. Coughing, feeling a shift in her chest undoubtedly due to broken ribs, Miranda pushed herself up, rubbing the blood from her face.

_Take that you bastards,_ she thought as she stumbled out of the room to move towards the cargo bay where she trusted Shepard was heading. _Nobody tries to ruin my project and gets away with it. Nobody._

888

_To Be Continued..._


End file.
